Shocking Truth of Orange County Theater Murders | Forensic Files

money and Insanity money and Insanity okay in True Crime the word unbelievable is thrown around a lot but with today's
case this word is very fitting I'm Olivia Lavo journalist and creator of the Bakersfield 3 podcast in
collaboration with case File I'm presenting some of their most memorable cases in a new visual format let's dive
into case number 10 95 the Costa Mesa murders it was around dinner time on Friday May 21st 2010 when 23-year-old
Julie kosi received a text message it read can you come over tonight at midnight alone very upset need to talk
Julie typed a reply asking what was the matter after making a promise that she wouldn't tell anyone the sender
explained that they were hurting due to some bad family holy crap it was approaching midnight when
Julie pulled up to the senders apartment complex in Costa Mesa California as she
approached the sender's front door she sent her brother a message evidently she could hear sobs coming from the other
side her final text message she sent read Sam is crying it's not good hours earlier Julie had been out to dinner
with her brother and his fiance it was a special occasion as the couple asked her
to be a bridesmaid at their upcoming wedding Julie was thrilled and after she accepted they handed her a tiara it was
both a gift and the finishing touch to her bridesmaid outfit during dinner Julie's cell phone had lit up with text
messages from a close friend named Sam hair the two had met at Orange Coast Community College where they both took
anthropology Julie tutored Sam in the subject helping him achieve a in that class according to Sam's texts he was
having a pretty rough night and after some back and forth Julie told Sam she would leave her brother's house to visit
him right away the next morning Julie's parents realized she never came home which was incredibly unlike their
daughter as phone calls to Julie continued to go unanswered her parents contacted police at the same time that
Julie's family were worrying about her a couple who lived in the Orange County neighbor hood of Anaheim Hills were
wondering where their son might be the hair family who had been expecting a visit from their only child Samuel
better known as Sam he had spent many weekends with his parents who were only a 30-minute drive away from his Costa
Mesa apartment the couple tried calling Sam periodically throughout the day but his cell phone was switched off which
was very unusual for him by late evening Sam's father showed up to his apartment
and used a key that Sam had given him to open the door the lights were on but all
was quiet nothing looked out of place and then as he walked into Sam's bedroom he was met with a horrifying sight
alongside Sam's bed was a young woman she was kneeling her torso was sprawled over the mattress and her lower legs
were resting on the floor her jeans had been cut at the waistband down through the seat before being ripped down around
her knees and a message had been scribbled in black marker across the back of the top she was wearing it read
quote all yours [ __ ] you the back of her head was bloody and it was clear there
was a gunshot wound to her scalp sitting on top of her head in her long matted black hair was a tiara Sam's father
recognized the woman as his son's close friend and anthropology tutor Julie Sam's father had previously asked his
son if there was a romantic connection between the two of them to which Sam told his dad that Julie was really more
like a sister to him though when the police arrived on scene it looked to them like Julie's murder was sexually
motivated based on how her body was posed an autopsy later revealed that Julie had been shot twice in the head
the message that had been scrawled on her back all yours [ __ ] you seemed pointed as though directed at a
particular person investigators suspected there was a love triangle upon searching Sam's room they found what
appeared to be a sex manual as well as a soldier's handbook the latter made sense
prior to enrolling in college when he was 26 years old Sam hair had served in the Army he had been sent to Afghanistan
in a particularly dangerous region that was constantly Under Fire when he returned to the US Sam exhibited
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder eager to move on with his life he enrolled in college so he could
obtain a degree now when investigators examined Julie's phone it was revealed how Sam had repeatedly reached out to
her the previous night in a series of text messages where he was essentially begging her to come over to his place
while also insisting that she' come alone and tell no one investigators noted how Sam also had reassured Julie
that his desire to see her wasn't sexual Sam's cell phone wallet and passport were nowhere to be found his car was
also missing investigators ran a background check on Sam har to find out exactly who they were dealing with and
in addition to learning that Sam was an Army veteran with extensive combat experience they made a disturbing
Discovery 8 years earlier in 2002 Sam had been charged with murder at the time Sam was 18 years old and he was accused
of helping lure a young man with gang ties to a warehouse where a group of asants were lying in weight and
subsequently killed the man and what appeared to be a gang retaliation hit of sorts the prosecution argued that while
Sam hadn't physically harmed the victim he had taken him to the sight of his death with full knowledge of what would
unfold old but the jury was unconvinced that Sam was guilty of murder and ultimately acquitted him after the trial
Sam was determined to start a new life and enlisted in the Army and went on to become a decorated veteran despite his
full exoneration Sam's history was notable to the detectives investigating him now for Julie's murder almost a
decade later similarities between the two crimes were clear both involved ing a victim somewhere where then that
victim met a violent end believing Sam was a threat to Public Safety and likely armed investigators had to move quickly
they interviewed everyone who knew Sam including a number of neighbors most of the residents at Sam's apartment complex
were college students around the same age and the complex had a thriving social scene one neighbor in his fiance
said that they had seen Sam the afternoon before Julie was murdered and that Sam had helped him move some heavy
items and then left the apartment complex with a man that Sam's neighbor and his fiance said they had never seen
before the man was white and wore a black baseball cap meanwhile Sam hair's father Steve was struggling with the
sudden disappearance of his son because he just he just couldn't believe that his son would hurt his friend Julie and
then go on the run so he was deter to track him down himself and therefore began carrying out his own investigation
starting with accessing Sam's bank account Sam had previously given him access to in case of an emergency right
away Steve noticed there had been lots of activity over the past few days Sam had repeatedly withdrawn funds from an
ATM each time it was $400 the maximum amount that Sam's Bank permitted him to withdraw in a day and then suddenly a
notification came through on Steve's phone from Sam's Bank Sam's card had just been used to order some pizzas
Steve immediately rushed to the restaurant and parked in front keeping an eye out for Sam's car But as time
ticked by he never caught a glimpse of his son detectives were also looking at the banking info and upon examining the
footage recorded at the exact time Sam's card had been used at local ATMs detectives were perplexed as standing
before the machine was a teenage boy was this the individual in the black hat that Sam's neighbor had seen him with on
the day of Julie's murder investigators contacted the pizza parlor where Sam's card had been used to make a purchase
and asked for the delivery address provided for that order once they had it a full SWAT team descended on the
property if Sam hair was hiding inside the investigators did not want to take any chances when they knocked on the
door the teenage boy seen at the ATMs came outside he was having a little video game party at the house that he
shared with his mom a local Drama teacher police searched each room of the house and Sam hair was nowhere in sight
but his debit card was there eventually the terrified teen told investigators he
had no clue who Sam was but he admitted he had been withdrawing money from the debit card on behalf of someone else now
let's go back to the Costa Mesa apartment complex where Sam lived another occupant of the complex was
26-year-old Daniel wnc he held different jobs here and there but his true passion
was acting he was heavily involved in Community Theater he and Sam had become friendly after Daniel and his fiance
Rachel Buffett a fellowing aspiring actor had moved into the complex several months earlier Daniel was the neighbor
who had mentioned mened seeing Sam leave with a man in a black baseball cap on the day of Julie's murder now initially
this appeared to be a helpful clue but now investigators viewed Daniel's story far more critically as the teen with
Sam's debit card told police that Daniel was the one who gave it to him with instructions to drain the account
investigators now wondered was Daniel helping Sam evade authorities and if so was he aware of exactly what his friend
was running from detectives called Daniel seeking an explanation and when he picked up the phone he told them it
wasn't a good time as he was in the middle of his bachelor party Daniel and his fiance Rachel were getting married
in Just 2 days and that night he and some buddies were celebrating but unfortunately for Daniel detectives did
not care that it was his bachelor party with Sam hair as an apparent threat to the public they really needed to speak
with him immediately so soon after as Daniel took saki shots with friends detectives showed up and escorted him to
the police station for questioning Daniel blurted out I'm going to tell you everything I'm sick of covering for Sam
he said while he knew nothing about Julie's murder he had been duped into helping Sam escape and admitted to lying
about seeing Sam leave the apartment complex on the day of the murder with a man in a baseball cap Daniel said that
several hours before Julie was killed Sam called him and offered him money if he would help him out with something
Daniel continued that Sam explained he was planning to have his bank account drained by a third party and then file a
claim that his card had been stolen Daniel explained that the offer was tempting as he and his fiance Rachel did
not have much money their passion for the theater was not bring in anything and eventually they had found themselves
in debt and behind on rent so Daniel said he was desperate and agreed to help that's when Daniel enlisted his teenage
friend that he had met through local theater programs to start making the withdrawals but when detectives circled
back to Julie's murder Daniel's story changed he now admitted that Sam had in fact confessed his awful act to him on
the night of Julie's murder Daniel and his fiance had been performing in a musical together the next morning Sam
came over and begged Daniel for his help in getting him out of Costa Mesa Sam gave Daniel his laptop and told him to
hide it from police and then told Daniel The Awful Truth he said he had shot a woman in his apartment in a fit of rage
and added she had it coming Daniel continued that Sam said it started with him getting drunk and high on ecstasy
and asking Julie to come over where he says he made a move and she turned him down which infuriated him leading him to
shooting her in the head I said what did you do he's like I got a gun he asked for sex um he was pretty up he said no
and then he just shot her twice in the head Daniel said he was stunned as he too knew Julie from a group of regulars
who hung out at the apartment complex Daniel said at this point he was angry that he been unknowingly pulled into a
murder and when he began to yell at Sam Sam fired back and threatened to kill Daniel and his soon to be wife if Daniel
ratted him out eventually the two calmed down and reached an agreement Sam would
give Daniel every penny in his bank account roughly $116,000 if Daniel helped Sam conceal
the crime and get the hell out of town Daniel said he dropped Sam off at a shopping center outside of town and
abandoned the car nearby detectives thanked Daniel for the information and then asked him for a DNA swab Daniel
agreed but added that earlier in the afternoon on the day that Julie was murdered that he had been at Sam's
apartment so to not be surprised if they found any traces of evidence that showed
that Daniel had been there with Daniel now admitting to visiting Sam's apartment on the day of Julie's murder
the detectives began to push him harder had he assisted Sam in cleaning up the crime scene was there a chance he had
seen Julie's body did Sam tell him what he' done with the murder weapon did you see Julie de in the apartment no I did
not no I did not Daniel answered no to every question but his tone was growing louder and
increasingly belligerent and just as Daniel stood up to go home Detectives let him know he was going to be charged
with being an accessory helping cover up a murder after the fact you rested for murder okay sensory murder that's what
you're being arrested for you want to talk to us tell us anymore that's that's it we're done hold on we're done who who
who we're done now Daniel was panicked he blurted out I will talk to you about anything if it gets me to my wedding on
Friday that's what I will promise Daniel was distraught when he was was taken to
a holding cell realizing he really might not make it to his wedding meanwhile his
fiance Rachel was also going through it as it was becoming clear that her big day was falling apart when Daniel called
her from jail she demanded to know what he did to which Daniel explained how he had helped Sam cover up some stuff he
said he had also helped Sam acquire some quote hardcore ecstasy which Sam had been high on when he murdered Julie
Daniel said he knew his actions were wrong but he told Rachel we needed the money why on Earth would you try and
cover for him cuz we needed the money no we never need money we need to be good people and just
have each other I'm sorry then Rachel mentioned how she'd seen Daniel's older brother
Tim that morning and after his brother heard about Daniel's arrest he seemed nervous and blurted out something to the
effect of him having evidence Rachel told Daniel that she was going to report this to the police to which Daniel
responded then I am doomed after the phone call with Rachel Daniel told detectives he wanted to speak with them
again and that's when he said something that's stuned them you said you wanted to talk to me what's going
on I'm crazy and I did it you did what I killed Julie and I killed Sam okay and tell me how you uh you killed
Sam two shots using my father's gun that I had and your Motors behind uh uh killing
Sam was money and Insanity money and insanity okay now let's go back about 2 weeks
earlier Daniel and Rachel were already struggling with money and then Daniel got a DUI which really pushed things
over the edge he was desperate to make bail and asked a lot of people including his neighbor Sam hair for money Sam
ultimately said no and Daniel found the money elsewhere and when he got out of jail Daniel and Sam caught up Daniel
explained how that one night in jail was the worst night of his life and that's when Sam told him about his dark past
when he had been implicated in a murder when he was 18 years old and had spent a
year in jail awaiting to stand trial Sam felt for Daniel and Rachel and ended up
agreeing them to help them pay their way overdue rent now to the day of Julie's murder that morning Daniel asked his
friend Sam to come help him move some things at the Liberty Theater where Daniel was an actor the two drove to the
theater in Sam's car when they got there Daniel lured Sam to an addict and as Sam
bent down to pick up a piece of furniture Daniel pulled out a gun and shot him in the back of the head and
this next detail is gut-wrenching Sam fell to the ground facing Daniel and began crying out for help saying
something hit me and then while looking him dead in the eye Daniel Reloaded his pistol and shot Sam in the head once
more then Daniel grabbed Sam's phone wallet and keys and left Sam's body in the atct of the Liberty Theater that
evening Daniel went to a different theater where he performed in a show alongside his fiance Rachel in between
his scenes Daniel texted Julie from Sam's phone pretending to be him begging for her to come over and sent those two
texts clarifying that he Sam wasn't going to ask her for sex to which Julie responded LOL Sam we are like brother
and sis after his performance Daniel went to Sam's apartment where he waited for Julie after he had tucked in his
fiance Rachel who had fallen asleep while watching TV when Julie showed up to Sam's apartment Daniel was outside
the front door and told her he'd also gotten texts that were worrisome from Sam and the two entered the apartment
together Daniel told Julie to go check the bedroom and walked behind her when he then pulled out a gun and shot her in
the head Daniel admitted to posing Julie's body and trying to make it appear as though Julie had been sexually
assaulted including writing that message on her back the next morning Daniel went
back to the Liberty Theater addict where he had left Sam's body using a saw and Hatchet he removed Sam's head this is
very graphic one of Sam's hands and one of his arms that had tattoos on them in hopes that getting rid of any body parts
that could easily be linked back to Sam he would be harder to identify smiling laughing
Wasing the motive for Julie's murder was unimaginable she had been killed solely
to try to cover up Daniel's true Target Sam Daniel's plan was for Sam to be framed for the murder and for it to look
like he had gone on the run but Daniel realized his plan that he had thought was so well thought out was quickly
crumbling after his fiance Rachel told him that she was telling police that Daniel's brother Tim mentioned having
evidence see Daniel had given his brother a box and told him not to open it inside was money the gun used to kill
Sam and Julie shell casings Sam's passport bloody clothing and the tools that Daniel had used to dismember Sam so
pretty much as bad as it can get Daniel knew that once police had that box it was over for him when investigators
asked Daniel what his motivation for the grizzly double homicide side had been this is what he told them money and
Insanity money and Insanity okay and explained he was a pathological liar who couldn't bear to tell his
fiance Rachel that he was broke and they were about to be evicted he had also wanted to give her the honeymoon of her
dreams detectives found samir's body in the addict of the Liberty Theater as Daniel had described he was missing his
head and portions of both arms but he was identifiable by a large tattoo on his chest that Daniel had apparently
missed I don't know it was a large heart surrounded by roses with the words mom and dad ined across the center which is
just so heartbreaking knowing that Sam was their only child and very close with his parents Daniel told investigators
that he had buried Sam's various body parts in Scattered Graves that he had dug in a local park on what would have
been Sam hair's 27th birthday his parents went to the park with Searchers praying that their son's head would be
found safely on the day of Daniel and Rachel's wedding an event that Sam hair was planning to attend Daniel was
charged with two counts of murder prosecutors decided decided to seek the death penalty and 5 years after
the murder the case finally went to trial where the jury convicted Daniel and sentenced him to death this is
really significant because death penalty cases were very rare in Orange County to
put it in context for eligible cases prosecutors only chose to pursue the death penalty 4% of the time now it
might seem that this is where our story ends but it's not even though Daniel was the
only one charged and convicted of Sam and Julie's murders those close to the case had long suspected that Daniel did
not act alone suspicions swirled around Daniel's brother Tim and his fiance Rachel Buffett like Daniel Rachel had
Big Dreams of acting in addition to lots of Community Theater she also played Ariel from The Little Mermaid at
Disneyland when investigators spoke to those who knew the couple they were told that Daniel changed quite a bit after
meeting Rachel and not in a good way he dropped out of college and became distant from his family he seemed
utterly obsessed with making Rachel happy now back in 2010 when the murders occurred detectives had taken Rachel in
for questioning immediately after arresting Daniel as they were suspicious of how r Rachel had backed up Daniel's
fake story of seeing Sam leave the apartment complex with a man wearing a baseball cap Rachel told investigators
she had misspoke and she didn't see the man she was just repeating what Daniel had told her Rachel also adamantly
denied being aware that she and Daniel had any Financial issues claiming that he had hidden that from her but that
didn't quite add up because they learned that Rachel and Daniel had been evicted
from another apartment complex for not paying rent there and they had been served an eviction notice for their
current apartment and then there was a local jazz singer who had met Daniel and Rachel shortly before the murders Daniel
asked this jazz singer to borrow money and the singer loaned him $2,000 and said he needed to be paid
back by May 21st on that day the Jazz Singer showed up to Rachel and Daniel's apartment
where the two of them were there hanging out with Sam hair the singer told police
that Daniel and Sam left the apartment together with Daniel saying he'd soon be back with the money The Jazz Singer
waited at the apartment with Rachel for several hours and when Daniel finally returned he had $400 with him and
promised to have the remaining ,600 soon the singer wasn't thrilled but was eager
to leave because he said apparently Rachel was clearly glaring at Daniel and it was just uncomfortable this story to
detectives about May 21st the day Sam and Julie were murdered gave them several new tidbits of information that
neither Daniel or Rachel had ever bothered to share others came forward to tell police that they noticed the couple
acting strangely the day of the murders as detailed in the book Killing for you one of their co-stars in the musical
Rachel and Daniel performed in the night of the murders noticed how in a scene that required Rachel to seem upset she
actually cried real tears which she had never done before and the following night her co-star asked if she was all
right and she allegedly told the co-star my friend is missing I think she's missing
I think she's dead and I think my friend did it this conversation happened at least 6 hours before Julie's body was
discovered and anyone knew that Sam was missing now let's go back to when Daniel
called Rachel from jail shortly after he was arrested I don't know what you're talking about other evidence I don't
know what Tim has besides that didn't said he had a murder weapon yeah he does so that's the exact what him told
me so I'm going to go tell the detective now so what do you want me to do then I
don't want you to tell the detective anything and I don't want him involved like that Daniel tried to convince her
to stay quiet to which Rachel responded you realize we're recording this phone conversation
[Music] anyways you're being an absolute ass to try and lie again at this point detectives believed Rachel could be a CO
conspirator but they only had evidence to charge her with being an accessory after the fact they charged Daniel's
brother Tim with the same offense you might remember when Sam was missing his father Steve traced his ATM card to a
pizza parlor where he waited for an hour hoping to get a glimpse of his son he never did see Sam but when Steve saw a
photo of Daniel's brother Tim he had immediately recognized him from being at the pizza place the night his son's card
was used there to purchase a few pies now prosecutors decided to try Daniel's case first before bringing Rachel or
Daniel's brother Tim to court and so two years before Daniel's trial as Rachel is
out living her life she accepted an invitation to be on Dr Phil Rachel claimed on the show that she knew
nothing about any crimes until after Daniel was arrested she said the only thing that she was guilty of
was trusting her fiance who she now believed to be a pathological liar discussing the impact of the double
murder Rachel stated it's absolutely horrific but I think I I know that I'm not the main victim Sam and Julie are
the main victims and then I think even secondary would be their families I'm after all that I realize that now after
Daniel was convicted of the double murder prosecutors finally proceeded with taking Rachel bu to court on two
felony charges of accessory to murder after the fact they accused her of lying and trying to mislead investigators
about what Daniel had done and what exactly she knew Rachel contested the charges but in November 2018 a jury
found her guilty she was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in Orange County jail
for credit for time she had already served while awaiting her trial the final 6 months of her s sentence would
be served on probation meanwhile both Sam and Julie's families never stopped believing that Rachel's involvement in
the murders went much deeper than what she had been convicted of Daniel's brother Tim had also been charged as an
accessory after the fact he struck a deal with prosecutors pleading guilty in exchange for a sentence of 10 days in
jail that had already been served and while Daniel was given the death penalty an inmate has not been executed in
California since 2006 furthermore in 2019 California governor Gavin Nome issued an indefinite death penalty
moratorium during which for the foreseeable future no executions are allowed to be carried out and Daniel is
one of many death row inmates that got to leave death row at San Quinton prison and be transferred to a much lower
security prison my understanding of why this is significant is because prior to the moratorium even though inmates were
not being executed they still had to live on death row where they had very few privileges now these same inmates
have a very different situation now that they're in lower security prisons living
by totally different set of rules just an absolutely baffling and horrifying case with quite a bit unresolved as it
pertains to Rachel and how Sam and Julie's families feel it's an example of a case that yes is technically solved
but what did Justice do for the victim's families really what Justice do they really feel they got let me know your
thoughts in the comments until next time thank you for watching I mean now I'm now I'm dead now I'm really
dead baby you're already dead

On the evening of May 22 2010, Steve Herr drove over to his son Sam’s apartment in Costa Mesa, California. The 26-year-old college student was supposed to be spending the weekend with his parents but when he never showed up, Steve decided to check on him. Upon entering the residence, Steve made a horrifying discovery – the brutally murdered body of 23-year-old Juri Kibuishi, better known as Julie, lay in his son’s bedroom. With no sign of Sam, police concluded he had gone on the run after assaulting and killing Julie. A desperate manhunt began as detectives began tracking Sam’s last known actions. Their investigation would lead them to a man who knew more than he was letting on – Sam’s friend and downstairs neighbour, Daniel Wozniak.

Based on Case 195: The Costa Mesa Murders https://casefilepodcast.com/case-195-the-costa-mesa-murders/

CREDITS Anonymous Host - narration Erin Munro - research, writing Mike Migas - production, music Andrew D.B. Joslyn - music Milly Raso - creative direction

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Brief Summary

Daniel Wnc confesses to murdering Julie Kosi and Sam Hair in a shocking double homicide driven by financial desperation.

Key points

The Costa Mesa Murders. A chilling tale of betrayal and murder unfolds in Costa Mesa, California.
Daniel's Confession. In a shocking turn, Daniel admits to the murders of Julie and Sam.
Daniel's Death Penalty. Daniel was sentenced to death, a rare outcome in Orange County.
Rachel's Guilt. Rachel claims she knew nothing about the crimes until after Daniel's arrest.
Rachel's Trial. Rachel was found guilty of being an accessory to murder and sentenced to jail.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I'm going to tell you everything. I'm sick of covering for Sam.

11:44WatchDec 7, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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